Two men with suspected ISIS links arrested in West Bengal’s Howrah

Police said, upon the duo’s arrest, they raided their place and seized material, including several laptops, mobile phones, hard drives, pen drives, notebooks, debit cards and a two-wheeler.

Kolkata police’s special task force (STF) on Friday arrested two men in their 30s ahead of the Republic Day celebrations for their suspected links with the Islamic State (ISIS), officials said.

Police said the duo were brought to the court that sent them to 12 days in police custody (Representative Photo)

According to the police, acting on a tipoff, two persons identified as Md Saddam, 28, and Sayeed Ahmed, 30, were arrested from Vidyasagar Setu in Howrah.

“While Saddam is an MTech dropout working in a Gurugram-based software company, Ahmed works in his father’s firm,” a senior police officer said.

They were charged under sections 121 (waging war against the government) and 122 (collecting arms to wage war) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police said the duo were brought to the court that sent them to 12 days in police custody.

“Preliminary interrogation revealed that they were recruiting youths, arranging arms and explosives and raising funds. They were trying to establish Caliphate,” said another senior.

Police said, upon the duo’s arrest, they raided their place and seized material, including several laptops, mobile phones, hard drives, pen drives, notebooks, debit cards and a two-wheeler.

Moreover, Jihadi literature, a list of some jihadi channels and names of some companies were also seized, police said.

A family member of Saddam told local media persons that they are not sure why Saddam was arrested.

“They (cops) just came, took his mobile phone and his computer. We don’t know why he was arrested,” said Saddam’s cousin.